Page 19 - The Divine Quest

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his men, and this made his life very perilous. He was only a step ahead of death on
many occasions. This precarious existence stretched from months into years, with
no end in sight. The promise of God that he would be king seemed to be a distant
fulfillment. The main obstacle between David and a fulfillment of the word of God
was King Saul, for he was ruling as king and he was also seeking to put David to
death.

On two occasions God delivered Saul into David’s hands to see if David would fail in
faith. If David did not have faith in God’s character, if he doubted that Yahweh would
fulfill the things promised to him, then he would reach out his hand to remove the
obstacle from his path. He would kill King Saul and take the kingdom for himself.
David knew in his heart that to do such a thing would be a great transgression
against the will of God, but he was sorely pressed.

On one occasion David and his men went into a cave to hide from Saul and his army,
and Saul came into the cave alone to relieve himself. David’s men said, “Look, God
has delivered your enemy into your hand. Strike him with the sword and your
problems will be over.” Great pressure was placed upon David to do this thing, for
he and his men were living in peril of their lives. Yet David did not forsake his
confidence in Yahweh’s character. He knew Yahweh was faithful and would surely
fulfill His word to David.

On another occasion when Saul was pursuing David, Yahweh brought a deep sleep
upon Saul and his army so that David and Abishai were able to enter their camp and
walk right up to Saul. Abishai counseled David to kill King Saul, but David answered
in this way:

I Samuel 26:9-11
But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand
against Yahweh's anointed and be without guilt?" David also said, "As Yahweh lives,
surely Yahweh will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down
into battle and perish. Yahweh forbid that I should stretch out my hand against
Yahweh’s anointed...”

With these words, David demonstrated that his faith in God had not failed. He
entrusted himself into Yahweh’s hands, believing Him to be faithful and true to His
word. This faith pleased God tremendously, and God’s own testimony was that He
had found in David a man who would do all of His pleasure. Without faith it is
impossible to please God, but with faith we are able to fulfill all Yahweh’s pleasure
and desire.